This invention relates to deep fryers and, more particularly, this invention relates to a basket for use in a deep fryer such as a deep fat fryer. Still more particularly, this invention relates to a basket having an insert which nests in the basket to hold food products beneath the surface of the cooking liquid such as molten fat or oil (hereinafter referred interchangeably to as “fat” or “oil”) and to methods of cooking food products in the basket assembly.
Deep fryers are commonly used in both industry, such as restaurants and processors of food to be sold at retail or wholesale, and homes. A typical deep fryer includes a receptacle to hold the cooking liquid and means for heating the cooking liquid. The means is ordinarily an electrically powered heating element which, together with the receptacle is sold as a so-called deep fryer or deep fat fryer. For purposes of this invention, deep fryers are not limited to such units but may simply be a pot or sauce pan placed on a stove. The food is usually placed in a foraminous basket which is then lowered into the heated fat, or it may be dropped into the heated fat in which the basket is already placed. A typical such basket is that designated by the numeral 20 in U.S. Pat. No. 4,508,027 to McCord, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. McCord teaches a device which comprises a vertical partition to be inserted into the basket to enable the user to cook different food products at the same time but to be separated while doing so.
Most food products which are deep fried tend to rise to the top of the hot oil. In order to assure uniform cooking, therefore, the user must constantly push the food below the surface of the hot oil or turn it over to thereby obtain the uniformity of cooking which is desired. In some commercial establishments when frying french fries or onion rings, the food is pushed below the surface of the hot oil by placing an empty basket into the mouth of the basket holding the food. This is mentioned in U.S. Pat. No. 4,321,859 to Rimmeir. As taught by Rimmeir, however, in the case of onion rings, this results is a “loaf” of onion rings which is esthetically displeasing and unduly greasy for most people's tastes. Remmeir solved that problem by providing a cover with a plurality of downwardly projecting rod-like members.
Other specialized devices have been developed to provide a proper environment for frying particular types of food products such as tacos, chips, pies, and the like. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,386,094, 4,232,596, 4,006,675, 3,424,076, 4,854,227, and published U.S. Patent Application No. 2002/0017198, for example.
None of these publications teaches a satisfactory solution to the problem of uneven cooking caused by food rising to the surface of the hot oil. In commercial establishments such as restaurants the workers are usually busy attending to numerous tasks and cannot stand in one place tending to the fryer. In the case of home use, constantly hovering over the fryer to push the food down or turn it over is a tedious task. The user also has other tasks to be accomplished and turning his or her attention to those tasks leaves the deep fryer unattended. There is a need, therefore, for a device which would simply and easily provide the necessary environment for frying food products without the need to pay constant attention to the fryer.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a basket assembly for use with a deep fryer which is free of the aforementioned and other such disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a basket assembly for use with a deep fryer comprising a lower foraminous basket and an upper foraminous insert which quickly and easily attaches to the lower basket at a predetermined location intermediate the top and bottom of the lower basket to thereby hold the food in place beneath the surface of the hot cooking liquid.
Advantages of the instant inventive assembly are that it forces foods down to increase the efficiency of flash frying, it provides the ability to cook more than one item at a time while keeping them separated, and it provides a food product which cooks faster because it is unnecessary to turn food which floats to the top, thereby resulting in less fat absorption.
These and other objects are achieved by providing a foraminous basket with an insert which is placed at a predetermined location within the basket in an essentially horizontal position and locked in position to thereby hold food products below the surface of the oil when the basket assembly is placed in the deep fryer. The basket has a removable handle which extends upwardly and outwardly to enable the user easily and safely manipulate the basket. The basket is foraminous and is preferably made of a wire mesh. The insert is also foraminous and is preferably made of a wire mesh. The insert is essentially flat, being dimensioned to fit within the basket with a reasonably loose tolerance which allows easy ingress and egress but does not allow food products located below the insert to escape around its edges. The insert is removably held in place by press-fit locking means. The insert also has a handle which extends upwardly to a height higher than the handle of the basket and outwardly thereby enabling the user to easily and safely manipulate the insert.
It is to be noted that while this invention has been described by reference to its use in a deep fat fryer, it can equally well be used in connection with other types of cooking such as poaching fish in a court bouillon, cooking chicken in some other liquid, or cooking vegetables in a liquid.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.